Relay



' 'M 1933- H. w. wu |AMs ET m.

RELAY Filed May 22, 1928 !N V E NTO R5 Miran? I paw/o 23").

ATLI'ORNEY Patented -Mar. 21, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HAROLD W.WILLIAMS AND DANILO SANTINI, OF EAST PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNORSTO WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A

CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

RELAY Application filed Kay 22, 1928. Serial No. 279,771.

Our invention relates to relays and more particularly to inductor relaysof the type employed in control systems for controlling shall be simpleand efficient in operation and 10 adapted for ready and economicalmanufacture and installation.

A more specific object of our invention is to provide a relay of theabove mentioned type'that will be accurate in operation and which willnot open its contact members until it reaches a definite predeterminedpoint in passing a cooperating inductor;

late. i p Another object'of our invention is to provide an inductorrelay that shall operate effectively, regardless of variations in thepositions of the armatures with reference to the cooperating inductorplates.

;It is also an object of our invention to provide magnetic shields forthe cooperating parts of an inductor relay that shall insure accurateaction ofuthe relay as it passes its cooperating inductor plates.

Other objects of the. invention will, in part, be obvious, and will, inpart, appear hereinafter. v

For an illustration of one of the various forms our invention may take,reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing, in which,

Figure 1 is a View, in perspective, of an inductor. relay embodying ourlnvention, and

Figs. 2 and 3 are diagrammatic views illustrating the action of themagnetic field as the inductor plate is brought into active relationshipwith the armatures of the relay.

We have illustrated, in Fig. 1, of the drawing, an inductor relay 1adapted to be mounted on one of two relatively movable bodies, inposition to cooperate with a pair;

of inductor plates2 and 2a, mounted on the other of such bodies.

The relay is mounted upon a suitable base 3 and comprises a coil 4 thatis wound on 50 a suitablespool or 'core 5 which is provided with largerectangular end plates 6 and 7 of suitable magnetic material. A plate 8,of insulating material, is mounted upon the rear edges of the end plates6 and 7 to brace them in their operating positions and also to provide aterminal board for the electrical.

connections of the relay.

As shown, .the relay is provided with four pairs of cooperatingarmatures 10 and 12,.

11 and 13, 14 and 16 and and 17 that are pivotally supported uponthe endplates 6 and 7 by means of pivot pins 18. In order that veach armaturemay be employed to open or close a circuit, it is provided with an arm20 of insulating material which carriesa contact member 21 disposed toengage a cooperating contact member 22 on a stationary conducting arm 23that extends fr0m the anel board orplate 8. The contact mem ers 21 arebiased to a closed position by tensile springs 24 which are mountedbetween, and attached to, the extending arms 20 of each pair ofarmatures.

It has been observed, in the operation of elevators, hoists and similarapparatus, that the relative position of the car and the hatchwaychanges from time to time under the influence of different conditions ofloadingand changes due to wearing of the guide shoes which normallyguide the car, in a fixed path, up and down the hatchway. In elevatorsystems employing inductorrelays as control elements, it is customary tomount one of the cooperating elements of each relay, usually theelectro-magnet and armature assembly, onthe elevator car, and to mountthe other element, or magnetizable plate, in the hatchway. The reverseof this arrangement has also been used, but is the less satisfactory ofthe two. It is apparent, therefore, that accurate adjustment of theclearance between the relay armatures and this problem has been furthercomplicated in. thatthe relays have been so organized that the 'changeofrelative positions of the car and the hatchway caused by side-sway,wearing of guide rails and shoes and the like have produced variationsin the total air gap between the magnetizable-plate's and 'the armaturesactuated thereby.

By arranging the armatures as projections between which the inductorplates may pass, movement of the relay, in either of its lateraldirections with reference to the the total air gap between the armature12,

the plate 2 and the armature 13 would be increased, at the same time,the total air gap between the armature 10, the plate 2 and the armature11 would be reduced, and such variation as would occur would, therefore,not have any material bearin upon the actuation of the relay. On theotherhand,

should the relay be moved laterally at right angles with reference tothe inductor plate 2; that is, should the plate 2 be projecteddeeperinto the opening between the armatures 10 and 12, the total air gapbetween the armatures and the inductor plate -will not be varied, andsuch change of relative polsition' will not afl'ect the operation of'there ay. I Y

Inasmuch as the contact members 21 and 21a ofthe armatures 10 and 12 areelectrically. connected by a conductor'33, and

are disposed .in'series in the circuit to be controlled thereby, theactuation of either.

one of the armatures from its biased position will effect an opening ofthe circuit in which they are connected. The armatures 11 and 13 arearranged similarly to the armatures 10 and 12 in order that theoperation of either one of them will control the circuit in which theyare connected in series.

Inasmuchas the armatures 14, 16, 15 and 17 are mounted and connectedlike the armatureslO, 12, 11 and 13, they will be operated in the samemanner when the relay ismoved past the inductor plate 2a.

In elevators of the automatic-landing type, in which inductor relays areemployed to initiate the steps of deceleration of the car at suchdistance from the floor, at which a stop is tobe made, as will-cause thecar to stop at the floor, it is essential that the point at-which thedeceleration is initiated shall be the same at all times in order tocause the car to stop accurately level with the floor withoutunder-running or over-run- I ning the floor, since, the more accuratethe operation of the relay, the more accurate will be the landing. Forthat reason, we have provided each armature with a shield ofmagnetizable material, attached to the respective end plates 6 or 7 forpreventing the armature from being actuated by the inductor plates untilthe car has reached a definitely predetermined point in its upward ordownward travel. The shields are respectively designated as 34, 34a,34b, 34c, 34',

Referring to Fig. '1, a magnetic circuit, including armatures 10 and 12,and 11 and 13 extends from one pole of the coil 4, through the end plate6, the armatures 10 and 12, shields 34 and 34a, the inductor plate 2,shields 34 and 340," the armatures 11 and 13, and the end plate 7, tothe opposite pole of the coil. As will be apparent, a second magneticcircuit for the flux of coil 4 includes the armatures 14, 16, and 15 and17, the shields 34b, 34a, 34b and 340', and the inductor plate 2a. Thefunction of the shields, as 34, is to prevent the direct passage of fluxfrom the armatures as 10, to the indlictor plates 2 and 2a untll theseelements assume predetermined relative positions. As will be apparentfrom Fig. 1 of the drawing, if the flux is permitted to pass directlyfrom the armatures to the inductor plates, the armatures are subjectedto a force tending to cause rotation thereof about the axes 1 8. Thisforce varies in value. in accordance with the relative positions of thearmatures and plates and is, of course, a maximum when the two elementsare opposite one another, or in the positionshown in Fig. 3. Byinterposing the shields as shown, however, the greater part of this fluxis deflected in such a way that only a small force is exerted on thearmature tending to cause rotation thereof until the elements assume theposition shown in Fig. 2, at which time the armature is suddenlysubjected to a substantially maximum force, and is thereby actuated.This feature is graphically illustratedin Figs. 2 and 3, Fig. 3illustrating the flux path from the'inductor plate 2 when it is belowthe shield 34, at which time, it will be observed, practically all ofthe flux passes between the plate 2 and the armature 10 by way of theshield 34, and

that very little force is applied to the armature 10 to cause it torotate about the axis 18. However, as the relay 1 is moved down wardly,the upper edge of the plate 2 approaches to a position level with thelower portion of the armature 10, as illustrated in Fig. 2, andconsiderable flux passes through the armature 10 and the plate 2, themagnetic pull on armature 10 being such as to cause rotation thereofabout axis 18. Hence, the armature cannot operate until the inductorplate reaches this position;

that is, until the car passes a predetermined point in the hatch way. Itwill be observed, therefore, that the oint of actuation of the relays,and hence, o initiation of slow-down,

may be accurately determined. In practice,

the variations in the point at which the relays'are operated have notexceeded limits of one-quarter of an inchin-either direction.

It will be noted that the shields 34 are disposed below the associatedarmatures 10, 12, 14 and 16, and that the shields 34 are disposed abovethe associated armatures '11, 13, 15 and 17. As will be obvious, thisalternatearrangement of the shields is appropriate where. the armaturesof. the former group are to be operated when the relay, or the inductorplates, are moved in one direction, and the armatures of the lattergroup are to be operated durin movement of the relay, or the inductor pates, in the other direction. The relative positions of the severalarmatures and shields may, of course, be arrahged in any desired mannerto accommodate different 0 crating requirements It will be further 0served that if, due to shifting of the relative position of the carandthe hatchway, the inductor plate 2 is brought closer to one of thearmatures of'a set than to the other; for example, closer to armature 10than to armature 12, actuation.

of armature 10 is positively prevented prior to the time the upper endof the inductor plate 2 is brought level with the lower portion of thearmature 10, in spite of the fact that the reduced air gap allows thepassage of a. greater quantity of flux between the armature and theinductor plate. Hence, the use of the shields 34 not only increases theaccuracy when all of the parts are in exact adjustment but also takescare of variations due to inaccuracy of adjustment caused either by wearor by faulty initial '7 installation.

It is frequently desirable that an armature, when actuated, should bemaintained in its actuated condition during the entire time the coil 4is energized. For this purpose, we have provided plates 30 and 30a ofmagnetizable material suitably mounted upon the end plates 6 and 7,respectively, with magnetic insulation between the plates and therespective end plates. The plate 30 is provided with downwardly bentprojections 27, 28 and 29 to engage, respectively, tips of magnetizablematerial inserted near the extreme ends of the insulating arms 20. Thesemagnetic tips are designated by the reference characters 2'? and 28?,only two of the tips being shown, but it is to be understood that onetip is provided for each of the armatures 10, 11, etc. on the relay.

The plate 30 is magnetically connected with the plate 30a by meansof'strips 31 and 32 of magnetizable material, to thereby complete amagnetic circuit between the coil 4 an theplates a0 and 30a. The flaxwhich passes .from the coil. through the plates 30.

and 30a is insuflicient to cause actuation of i the armature,- but, whenthe armatures are otherwise moved .and the tips 27- are brought I intophysical contact with'the projections 27, sufficient flux will pass tomaintain the armatures in their new positions. However,

as soon as-coil 4 is deenergized, this flux will disappear and thearmatures will be restored to their original positions under theinfluence of their respective springs.

In addition to the holding function performed by the plates 30 and 30a,it will be observed that these plates are so shaped as to extend abovethe contact'members operated by the armatures 10, 11, 12, etc., and

the flux passing througlrthese plates may be utilized to blow-out anyare occurring be- :tween the respective sets of contacts.-

ited to the precise construction illustrated and described.

We claim aso-ur invention: I a

1. In an inductor relay, a" magnetizable coil, an armature, amagnetizable plate for cooperating, magnetically with said armature, anda magnetic shield disposed to prevent the passing of magnetic lines offorce directly between the armature and the plate until the plate is ina predetermined position relative to the armature.

2. In an inductor relay, a magnetizable coil, a movable armature, amagnetizable plate disposed to be brought adjacent to said armature forcooperating magnetically therewith to cause movement ofsaid armature,and shielding means for accurately determining the position of the plateadjacent to the armature atwhich the armature will lee operated.

I 3. In an inductor relay, a magnetizable coil, a movable armature, amagnetizable plate disposed to be brought adjacent to said armature forcooperating/ magnetically therewith to cause movement of said armatureand means for controllingthe direction of the'effectivelines of forcebetwee the armature and the plate. I

4. In an inductor relay, a magneti zable coil, a movable armatureassociated with other.

reference to said armature for cooperating magnetically therewith tocause movement of said armature and a magnetic shield as- -sociated withsaid armature for preventing the plate and the armature from cooperatingmagnetically until they are in a predetermined position with referenceto each 6. In a relay, a magnetizable coil, a movable armatureassociated with said coil and a magnetic shield disposed in proximity tosaid armature for preventing efiective fringing of lines of force fromsaid armature.

7. An inductor relay comprising a core member, a coil disposed on saidcore member, a movable armature associated with the upper end of saidcore member, a cooperating movable armature associated with the lowerend of said core member, a magnetizable plate movable withreference tosaid armatures for cooperating magnetically therewith to cause movementof said armatures, a magnetic shield disposed around the under side ofthefirst namedarmatllre and a sec- 0nd magnetic shield disposed aroundthe upperside of the second named armature v for accurately determiningthe position of the plate adjacent to the armatures at which the latterwill be operated.

8. An inductor relay comprising a magnetizable coil, a pair. ofarmatures disposed to cooperate magnetically with each other, a secondpair of armatures disposed to cooperate magnetically with each other,and a sai pairs of armatures,

9. An inductor relay comprising a core member, a coil disposed thereon,a plurality of movable armatures associated with said coiland coremember and disposed to provide a pair of substantially parallel magneticfields when the coil is energized, and

' a magnetizable plate for o crating said armatures disposed to passetween those armatures disposed to'form the one magnetic field and thosearmatures disposed to form the other magnetic field.

10. An inductor relay comprising a core member, a magnetizable coildisposed on said core member, a plurality of movable armatures disposedto provide a pair of substantially parallel magnetic fields when saidcoil is energized, and a magnetizable plate for operating said armaturesdisposed to pass between thosevarmatures for forming the one magneticfield and those armatures for forming the other magnetic field.

11. An inductor relay comprisin a core member, a magnetizable coildispose on said core member, two pairs of armat'ures associated withsaid coil and disposed to provide a pair of substantially parallelmagnetic fields when said core is energized, and a magnetizable platefor operating said armatures disposed to pass between the twomagnetizable plate disposed to pass between pairs of armatures, saidpairs of armatures being spaced apart such distance as w1ll msuretheoperation of at least one pair of coil is energized, and a magnetizableplate for operating the armatures, said plate being disposed to passbetween the armatures forone magnetic field and the armatures for theothermagnetic field.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names this 18thHAROLD W. WILLIAMS. DANILO SANTINI.

day of May,

